National Trunk Highway System
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Image:Central Jingshi Expressway4.jpg The National Trunk Highway System (NTHS or "7918 Network") is a system of freeways currently under construction in the People's Republic of China. It is similar in scope to the Interstate highway system in the United States.
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History
Originally, China had been carrying out an ambitious plan to build up a 35,000 kilometer national trunk highway system before 2010. The main objective of the NTHS was to construct 12 high standards trunk roads, which comprise of 5 longitudinal roads and 7 latitudinal roads.
However, by January 1, 2005 China had already built 34,300 km of expressways and 1.5 million km of highways. On January 13, 2005, it was announced by Zhang Chunxian, minister of communications, that China will build a network of 85,000 km expressways over the next three decades, connecting cities with a population of over 200,000. Of this total length, 68,000 km are trunk roads and 17,000 km are 5 regional ring roads. There are also 2 parallel routes and more than 30 connecting links. 32,000 km of expressway are to be built in central and western regions.
Construction of expressways began in 1990 and it is scheduled to be complete in 2020. The scale of the project can be seen by the fact that on January 1 1989, the PRC had 147 km of freeways, but by January 1, 2006, it had 42,000 km of freeway, 5,700 km of which were built in 2005.
The express highway system is to expand to 55,000 km by 2010, 85,000 km by 2020, 120,000 km by 2030 & 175,000 km by 2050.
Network
Formed by 7 radiating lines from Beijing, 9 lines from north to south and 18 from east to west, the network, known in short as "7918 Network", will cover a region with a population of one billion. According to the plan, the 7 radiating expressways are
- Beijing–Shanghai, see also Jinghu Expressway.
- Beijing–Taipei, see also Jingtai Expressway.
- Beijing–Hong Kong–Macao, see also Jingzhu Expressway.
- Beijing–Kunming, see also Jingkun Expressway.
- Beijing–Urumqi
- Beijing–Harbin, see also Jingha Expressway.
and also: Jinggang'ao Expressway, Jingla Expressway and Jingwu Expressway.
The network will include bridges in the Pearl River Delta between Macao SAR and Hongkong SAR (30-km Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge) and a 31-km bridge or tunnel (pending a 5 to 10-year feasibility study) from Leizhou Peninsula (Guangdong) to Hainan Island spanning the 22.5-km Qiongzhou Strait. Also, the 36-km Hangzhou Bay Bridge is being constructed over the Hangzhou Bay (2003 to 2008), reducing the distance between Shanghai and Hong Kong by 120 km. The 18-km Zhongnanshan tunnel is expected to be the longest tunnel in China linking Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi, with Zuoshui county by 2009.
It is also planned to include an expressway from Beijing to Taipei, either connected by bridge or tunnel, across the Taiwan Strait over a distance of more than 200 km.
Terminology
Costs
The total costs of the national expressway network will be 2 trillion yuan (some 240 billion US dollars). From 2005 to 2010, the annual investment will run from 140 billion yuan (17 billion US dollars) to 150 billion yuan (18 billion US dollars), while from 2010 to 2020, the annual investment will be around 100 billion yuan (12 billion US dollars).
The construction fund will come from vehicle purchase tax, fees and taxes collected by local governments, state bonds, domestic investment and foreign investment. Unlike other freeway systems, almost all of the roads on the NTHS/"7918 Network" are toll roads that are largely financed by private companies under contract from provincial governments. The private companies raise money through bond and stock offerings and recover money through tolls.
Efforts to impose a national gasoline tax to finance construction of the tollways met with opposition and it has been very difficult for both the Communist Party of China and the State Council to pass such a tax through the National People's Congress of China.
